Grazing and Environmental Change on the Tarija Altiplano, Bolivia
Author(s): David Preston, Jamie Fairbairn, Narel Paniagua, Glenn Maas, Martha Yevara,
Stephan Beck
Source: Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 23, No. 2 (May, 2003), pp. 141-148
Published by: International Mountain Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3674484
Accessed: 14/02/2009 14:54
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=intms.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the
scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that
promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
International Mountain Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Mountain Research and Development.
http://www.jstor.org
Mountain Research and Development
Vol 23
No 2
May 2003: 141-148
David Preston, Jamie Fairbairn, Narel Paniagua, and Glenn Maas, with Martha Yevara and Stephan
and
Environmental Change
Grazing
Tarija
Altiplano, Bolivia
The state of the
physical environment
is reviewed and the
importance of grazin complex rural
the 1hcnr.ing
livelihoods is
assessed in the hitherto little studied
Tarijaaltiplano,
Bolivia.Past and
contemporaryclimatic fluctuations have dominated environmentalchange
and are reflected in landforms,soils, vegetation, and
land use. Broad fluctuations of dry and wet phases,
200-500 years long, occurredbetween BC 1500 and
the 19th century. Warminghas taken place duringthe
20th century,the final decades characterized by sharp
climatic fluctuations (droughtand floods) typical of the
El Nino southern oscillation. Grazingby sheep and cattie-introduced by Europeans500 years ago-has
affected vegetation, but currentgrazing pressure alone
does not explain the differences in biomass. In most of
the areas grazed, present-day herds appear not to
affect the quality of the vegetation any more than during the past 500 years. The term overgrazingis misleading,given the complexity of vegetation changes.
Transhumance,shareherding, rotations, and the use of
microenvironments(bofedales and marshland) ensure
optimumrecovery of pastures. Givenaccess to other
pastures at times of climatic stress, as well as seasonal migration,existing resource use appears ecologically
sustainable. It is uncertain whether the security offered
by pastoralism will meet the rising livelihoodexpectations of the young.
Keywords:Grazing;vegetation; household livelihoods;
Tarijaaltiplano;Bolivia.
Peer reviewed: August 2002. Accepted: November
2002.
Introduction
Grazing is frequently blamed for the sparse vegetation
on much of the high plateaus of the central Andes. This
article describes and assesses the effect on the natural
environment of land-use systems prevailing in the altiplano of Southwest Tarija in the late 1990s. The role of
grazing as one part of complex household livelihood
strategies is analyzed, as well as the extent to which the
use of natural resources by households is sustainable.
An interdisciplinary team of social and natural scientists has carried out fieldwork in the highlands and
valleys of Tarija since 1992 (Figure 1). During this time
we have become increasingly aware of the importance
Beck
on
the
of altiplano and mountainside pastures to both altiplano and valley dwellers as well as the role of livestock
in the livelihoods of households (Preston 1998).
Detailed fieldwork and archival research by a team of
geographers, botanists, and an agricultural scientist
focused on a series of altiplano and valley communities
and provided a basis for understanding their livelihood
strategies. Mapping of vegetation by Beck et al (2001)
involved fieldwork covering the whole area between the
Rio San Juan del Oro and the eastern margins of the
Tarija valleys to the south of the city of Tarija. Geomorphological research reported by Maas et al (2001)
included mapping flood histories by means of
lichonometry and detailed morphological mapping
with dating supplemented by 14C and photoluminescence in the upper Alizos Valley and the Quebrada de
Barbascuyo in the valleys of Tarija and the Turcumarca
subcatchment on the adjacent altiplano. More detailed
research based on field observation and interviews with
groups and individuals in over a dozen valley and altiplano communities focused on recent past and present
livelihoods, management of environmental and other
risks, and local perceptions of environmental change
(reported in Preston 1998; Fairbairn 1999, 2000). Most
of the detailed fieldwork in the altiplano was carried
out in the communities of Copacabana and Arenales.
Current work is based in Chorcoya. Research on the
soils, vegetation, and landforms has provided important
evidence of how the environment is changing during a
100- to 500-year period. This article presents a synthesis
of the work by scholars from different disciplines and
offers some conclusions about the consequences of the
interaction among people, their livestock, and the environment in the Tarija altiplano, a hitherto little studied
part of highland Bolivia. It shows how traditional and
modern elements of production are interwoven in contemporary livelihood strategies over a much wider
range of localities than might be expected.
Since the land reform of the 1950s, land-use systems in the Tarija altiplano seem to have changed slowly. Livestock numbers appear to have increased during
the first half of the century-although
data from tax
records for 1906 are not entirely reliable-but
have
changed only a little in the period since the land
reform, as shown by excellent baseline data collected as
part of the land reform process and in a number of
recent surveys (Preston 2000). Travel to Argentina has
become easier and more common. The sheer proximity
of the Argentine border-only
a couple of days' walk or
a few hours by bus or lorry from the lakes of Tajzarahas facilitated migration from Southwest Tarija. The
opportunities for employment (at least before the economic collapse of 2001-2002) and the markedly better
quality of life in Argentina encouraged migration. Altiplano household livelihoods incorporate earnings from
David Preston, Jamie Fairbairn, Narel Paniagua, and Glenn Maas, with Martha Yevara and Stephan Beck
142
FIGURE 1
The Tarija alti-
plano in Bolivia.(Map courtesy of the Universityof
Cantabria;see Sili6 Cervera
et al 2001)
periods in Argentina to allow an adequate quality of life
to be maintained in conjunction with pastoralism and
some cultivation (Fairbairn 1999). This poses important
questions about pastoralism in the future.
This article first reviews the state of different elements of the physical environment to show the nature
of past and contemporary changes, in order to consider
the sustainability of current household livelihoods. The
second part describes and analyzes the structure of
livelihoods to show the relative importance of grazing
to altiplano households.
Climate, landforms,
and vegetation
Climate imposes stresses on farmers through periods of
drought as well as events such as floods. As in the Central Andes as a whole, in the Tarija altiplano and adjacent valleys, 95% of the annual rainfall falls in the
Vestiges of prehistoricterraces near Chorcoya,Tarijaaltiplano.These remnantsindicatethat the climate was once more
favorableto cultivationin this dry area. (Photo by DavidPreston)
FIGURE 2
months of October-April. There are long periods of the
year with very little rainfall, during which plants and
livestock are under considerable stress. During the wet
season, rainfall is not evenly distributed, characteristically falling during short, intensive storm events. This
makes management of natural resources challenging
and risky for the local population (Fairbairn 2000).
There is also a strong annual to decadal pattern of
climatic variability associated primarily with the El Nifo
southern oscillation (ENSO). During strong ENSO
events, drought commonly occurs on the Andean Altiplano in the austral summer, whereas during anti-El
Nifio or La Nifia phases, precipitation increases
(Thompson et al 1984; Tapley and Waylen 1990). Our
work in the Alizos catchment identified links between
strong La Nina events and flooding in the Alizos catchment (Maas et al 2001). However, because of the high
degree of variability of precipitation, wetter than average months also occur during dry ENSO periods (Preston 2000).
The climate has changed markedly throughout the
period of human occupation of Southwest Tarija. Periods of relatively high rainfall that would facilitate plant
growth and allow livestock to graze on abundant vegetation alternated with centuries of drier or colder climates. Historical human land-use systems will have
responded to these changes (Figure 2). The 20th century can now be seen as a century during which warming
took place (Vuille and Bradley 2000). The last decades
of the century experienced more of the sharp climatic
fluctuations typical of conditions influenced by the
southern oscillation.
Landformsand earth surface processes
The basins of the Tarija altiplano are internally
drained, and lakes mark points of water accumulation.
MountainResearchand Development Vol23 No 2 May2003
Research
Altiplano
Valleysof Tarija
143
FIGURE3 Block diagram of
the Tarijaaltiplano looking
eastward. (Source: Silio
Cervera et al 2001)
The excess of evaporation over precipitation sometimes
leads to saline accumulations in the soils and around
the lakeshores. Slopes are predominantly gentle, except
for the steep mountain front that drops from the edge
of the altiplano to the valleys to the west and east. Areas
of most active erosion are found on the steep slopes
where parent material is most easily eroded and at the
heads of valleys incised into the altiplano surface.
These are most visible in the southwest of the altiplano,
where western margins are not marked by low hills and
the Rio San Juan cuts back into the flat surface most
dramatically in Quebrada Honda (Figure 3).
Local evidence can thus be added to that from elsewhere in the Andes to suggest how climate change
affected landform processes, in particular erosion and
the deposition of sediments. Erosion is particularly
active when aridity (and other factors such as grazing)
reduces vegetation cover and makes storms more able
to remove surface materials. The recent decrease in
flood frequency and severity-also noted in the Tarija
that vegetation cover is now better
valleys-suggests
than during the Little Ice Age (Maas et al 2001).
Soils
Characteristics of soils and soil-related factors can act as
indicators of environmental change. Based on preliminary study of chemical and physical soil properties, surface characteristics, and biomass, the effect of grazing
pressure on environmental change was assessed (Coppus 2000). Studies of this type in the semiarid Andes
are scarce (Denevan et al 1986; Woodward 1994; Eash
and Sandor 1995) and contain little quantitative data.
Although biomass is generally low when compared with
studies in similar ecosystems (Liang et al 1989; Archibold 1995; Zhang and Skarpe 1996), on the Tarija altiplano it varies considerably from 300 to 3800
kg/hectare (Coppus 2000). In the mountains and footslopes, biomass is higher than on the gentle slopes of
the plateau and is particularly low close to the lakes.
The biomass gradient partly reflects greater rainfall in
the mountains than on the plateau, and the low biomass close to the lakes reflects the saline soil conditions
(Figure 4).
Grazing pressure alone cannot therefore explain
current differences in biomass. Sheep graze both the
plateau and the mountain slopes and also graze pastures on the other side of the watershed. It is probable
that the use of multiple zones has increased with time
because livestock numbers have increased and alternatives to the more convenient plateau grazing were needed. The low biomass on the plateau may be influenced
more by historical than by current grazing pressure.
FIGURE
4 Tarija altiplano south of Chorcoya. This view shows
walled fields, some of which are seasonally cultivated, extensive
grazing areas, saline lagoons, and an accumulationof wind-blown
sand in a small area of sand dunes. (Photo by DavidPreston)
DavidPreston, JamieFarbarn, NarelPaniagua,and GlennMaas, with MarthaYevaraand Stephan Beck
144
Vegetation
Only traces remain of the vegetation that prevailed
before human interference. Climatic change as well as
direct and indirect human influences during the past
20,000 years have left a landscape dominated by low
scrub and grasses. Trees occur only on isolated mountainsides. Given the antiquity of the major changes,
identification of these during the past century is complex. Detailed palynological studies are needed using
cores from the lakes in the Tarija altiplano. They could
throw much light on the history and trajectory of
change.
Current vegetation formations offer specific
resources to grazing livestock. The vegetation of the
Tarija altiplano is largely composed of open tussock
grassland, a low grass sward in the small humid depressions, and a low evergreen scrub with spiny shrubs,
small rosette, and cushion-form plants such as Plantago
tubulosa and Hypochaeris taraxacoides. The vegetation
cover is relatively scanty; there are areas with a large
proportion of the soil bare and others with relatively
high vegetation. On the hill slopes there are a few
places with patches of low but open forest, dominated
by small evergreen trees such as queiiua or quewiia
(Polylepis tomentella).
Local people report that the grazing available on
the higher slopes (and over to the east), where cattle
graze throughout the year and sheep during the dry
season, is of relatively poor quality. Neither iru ichu
(Festuca orthophylla) nor paja amarilla (Stipa leptostachya)
offers good grazing other than from the young shoots.
Some humid areas, where clouds gather on the eastfacing slopes, have better pastures.
The lower slopes, toward the basin floor, offer the
best grazing for sheep. The chillagua (Festuca hieronymi)
is particularly valued for its high protein content (8%),
as well as other grasses such as those of the genus
Deyeuxia. Most of the fenced pastures are in this area,
where chillagua grows to a height of 1 m, offering abundant forage in comparison with the open grazed areas.
In the lower areas and near the lakes, k'hanlli (Tetraglochin cristatum) is considered a good source of forage
by local people.
The nearby humid bofedales, as elsewhere in the
Andes, represent an important resource for grazing
livestock, especially in winter, when other areas have little plant growth. The soils rich in organic matter and
with adequate moisture for year-round growth are able
to support quite high livestock densities. The dense
swards that develop where there is moisture near
lagoons and in depressions where runoff collects after
storms are grazed intensively. The perennial grasses brama (Distichlis humilis) and bramilla (Muhlenbergia fastigiata) grow quickly after rain and are important for grazing, as well as other species such as Chondrosum simplex.
These species tolerate the salty conditions of the dry
season.
The need to enable adequate growth of vegetation
after grazing and the seasonal differences in forage
availability have prompted people to manage grazing
through a complex daily, weekly, and seasonal set of
livestock movements. Cattle graze the highest areas but
especially the more humid east-facing high mountain
slopes, where moisture from clouds allows plant growth
even during the dry season. The dense grasslands contain several species of Deyeuxia, Agrostis, and Bromus,
some Stipa species, and creeping herbs such as Lachemilla pinnata that are preferred grazing for the cattle.
Here, cattle from altiplano communities graze near cattle from the valleys, also seeking dry-season pasture.
Access to these pasture areas is controlled by custom,
but conflicts between communities occunr
Livestock management systems
Livestock are managed in various ways in the altiplano
and adjacent valleys to make use of very different environments. The Tarija altiplano has large open plains
bordered on both sides by steep mountain slopes, dissected by seasonally dry river valleys. The houses are
located at the foot of these slopes and within the shelter
of the larger river valleys. Sheep are grazed in weekly
rotations on the flat surface and on the hill slopes. In
the dry season they are taken to the higher pastures
and return to the plateau when the rains begin. Sometimes the flock is divided, and some graze the lower
areas and others the higher areas. Some take their
sheep over the watershed to high slopes overlooking
the Camacho Valley between April and June (cows and
sheep) and also between September and November
(sheep). Ewes with newly born May lambs graze in
walled pens (potreros) with tall grass while their offspring suckle. The grass lasts until around August, when
the lambs are commonly fed barley. Lambs born in
October graze the slopes directly. Local grazing patterns are complex and involve constant movement of
livestock to make the best use of available pasture.
Sheep are corralled at night, allowing the accumulation
of valued dung for use on cultivated fields or (rarely)
fenced pastures and for sale outside the community.
Grazing and the landscape
Grazing by domesticated animals inevitably modifies
the vegetation in comparison with its pristine state. A
widespread assumption exists in parts of the scientific
community and in the local government that a form of
grazing exists that damages the environment. It is thus
labeled as overgrazing. Such a term is misleading
because any grazing removes plants that would otherwise be undisturbed, and this might constitute overgraz-
Mountain Research and Development
Vol 23
No 2
May 2003
Research
145
ing. A number of recent papers have questioned the
validity of this term, whose use is rarely supported by
evidence. Human-induced factors clearly play a part in
reducing vegetation cover in rangelands. However, few
studies quantify the influence of grazing on erosion and
loss of productivity. Those that have made such an
attempt highlight the complexity of vegetation cover
changes after intensive grazing. Wilson and MacLeod
(1991), for example, comment on the lack of concrete
evidence to back up broad claims that the world's
rangelands (particularly in Australia, the United States,
and Africa) are overgrazed. Even in controlled experiments in paddocks, they found it very difficult to quantify overgrazing, which suggests that it may be more
imagined than real. Vegetation changes are complex
and could involve removal of plants, introduction of
species, or accelerated growth. Similarly, the loss in animal productivity may be related not only to the lack or
reduced quality of pasture but also to factors such as
diseases.
It is difficult to distinguish between the effects of
past and current grazing on pastures. Experiments in a
natural montane grassland in central Argentina (Diaz
et al 1994) compared vegetation changes under different grazing intensities in areas with different land-use
histories. There was no significant difference in species
composition and richness between sites with different
grazing intensities, but there were differences between
postagricultural sites (with more exotic species) and
land not cultivated previously. Diaz et al (1994) concluded that grazing should not be considered a disturbance in these montane grasslands. Seasonal changes
also are complex. Washington-Allen et al (1998) used
time series Landsat images to detect changes in vegetation cover in the Bolivian altiplano. They highlighted
the rapid recovery of vegetation cover after the
1983-1984 drought, demonstrated that 90% of vegetation cover had not changed from 1972 to 1987, and
concluded that grazing does not contribute to resource
degradation when measured in terms of change in vegetation cover.
Hence, there are significant difficulties in disentangling the effects of environmental conditions and land
use on vegetation. Recent work by Adler and Morales
(1999) in Northwest Argentina, at an altitude comparable with our study area (3000 m), measured the relative
influence of environmental factors and sheep grazing
on local plant species composition, diversity, and soil
organic matter. They concluded that environmental
variables explained 22% of the variation in species composition between sites, and grazing-related variables
explained 24% of the variation. They also identified differences in the susceptibility of pastures to degradation
and changes in species composition, related to aspect
and season of grazing. Their conclusion that wet-season
pastures on north-facing slopes were more susceptible
to change suggests that protecting pastures during summer should be an important complement to traditional
management efforts to reduce stocking rates.
Our aim is to use a multidisciplinary perspective to
assess whether contemporary land management practices (particularly grazing) are leading to a deterioration in vegetation that might prevent future human
populations from continuing similar practices.
In the Tarija altiplano the effects of grazing are
seen in the composition of the flora. The consequences
of trampling and compaction of the soil, as well as close
grazing of selected plants, have led to the elimination
of the most palatable species from certain areas, particularly close to settlements where livestock pass daily.
For instance, the swards of annual graminae of Poa and
Agrostis, and perennials such as Deyeuxia and Festuca,
seem to have been replaced in some areas by hardier
and less palatable species such as paja amarilla (Stipa leptostachya), iru ichu (Festuca orthophylla), and k'hanlli (T.
cristatum) (Beck et al 2001).
Some of these changes are doubtless very ancient
and reflect the nature of grazing during the 500-year
period when sheep have grazed the highlands, but others are more recent. It is also necessary to take into
account that the numbers of native grazing animalsvicuna and guanaco-have
probably been greatly
reduced during the last century. Descendants of the
Lema family (who owned an extensive area in the altiplano) remember numbers of guanaco and vicuna
being hunted there during the 1930s (Ruiz, personal
communication). This might be hypothesized to have a
positive effect on the vegetation, although camelids
graze very differently from sheep.
Some informants commented that the increased
use of the higher pastures and the construction of temporary shelters there occurred after the breakup of the
estates following the land reform. Landlords kept very
few livestock of their own on these estates and relied on
a tribute payment of a proportion of the workers' animals, according to older informants and the land
reforms dossiers for the estates of Arenales, Copacabana, and Patanka (Preston 2000). On some higher
mountain slopes regular burning is said to be more frequent and intended to encourage the growth of pasture
grasses, but the importance of this too is uncertain.
Likewise, the practice of fencing or walling some areas
to protect pasture from casual grazing is new. During
the period of the great estates (before 1953), older
informants said that more use was made of the lagoons
and their aquatic plants, and there was better grazing
around depressions. The extent to which the latter
change is also a consequence of changes in water quality and precipitation is uncertain.
Changes in offering seasonal grazing access to
DavidPreston, Jamie Fairbairn,NarelPaniagua,and GlennMaas, with MarthaYevaraand Stephan Beck
146
sheep from the valleys seem to have occurred after the
Revolution of 1952. In the Camacho Valley, older people have told of the long-standing custom of taking
sheep in the wet season up to the altiplano, where they
grazed either altiplano pastures or possibly land on the
upper slopes of the Rio San Juan Valley. After the land
reform of the 1950s and the associated formation of
peasant unions (sindicatos), the newly independent former hacienda communities became free to decide on
access rights to their land. By 1984 many of the altiplano communities had decided to prevent access. This
will have decreased grazing pressures in some areas.
Shareherding is still important for communities of
the dry valleys of the catchment of the San Juan del
Oro River. Households from the valley communities of
Tojo and Carretas still send sheep as well as some goats
to communities near Rupaska on the edge of the altiplano to be cared for, often for the whole year. This
practice allows valley households to incorporate the valued sheep into their livelihood strategies and offers
poorer altiplano people fruit and other valley produce
in return for tending the sheep. The continuance of
this practice also implies abundant available altiplano
pasture.
During the past 50 years it seems that there has
been little change in livestock numbers. Some grazing
management practices have changed, and although in
some places environmental changes seem to have
occurred (lakeshores and area of sand dunes), it is
uncertain whether these are a consequence of changes
in grazing practices. The priorities of altiplano farmers
and graziers, identified in the community of Chorcoya
in participatory workshops during current research, are
droughts and disease and their effect on sheep rather
than inadequate grazing land (Ruiz de los Rios 2000).
This further suggests that current grazing practices are
not leading to environmental deterioration such that
present livestock numbers cannot be maintained.
1996) have shown that there is no inverse relationship
between the number of livestock and the level of diversification.
Livestock provide security. The role of livestock in
minimizing the element of risk within livelihoods in the
Andes and other mountain areas has been widely recognized (Brunschwig 1986; Browman 1987; Devereux
1993; Valdivia et al 1996; Preston 1998). Local people
consider that livestock are an ambulant bank and as
such a buffer against adversity.
As in many parts of the Andes, the Tarija altiplano
households depend on a combination of livestock and
arable farming and work outside the community. They
also may engage in activities such as spinning, weaving,
basket making, and the collection and sale of fuelwood
and manure. The relative importance of these distinct
elements and the type of crops and animals produced
vary considerably in response to topography, climate,
traditions, and particular choices of individuals and
households. Fairbairn has analyzed this in both the Tarija altiplano and the Rio San Juan Valley (Fairbairn
1999), and altiplano respondents insisted on the importance of each element of their livelihood. Referring to
agriculture and grazing, one respondent said, "you
can't separate them: if there is a shortage from one
activity, there'll be something from the other" (Fairbairn 1999, p 8). Likewise, difficulties resulting from a
drought and the loss of many sheep are compensated
by migration to work in Argentina in order to earn
money to sustain the household during the period of
shortage.
Because households are not totally dependent on
livestock, they are not encouraged to put stress on grazing resources by keeping more sheep to cushion the
effect of drought and high mortality. The resilience of
their livelihood strategy allows other resources to be
to Argentina or, in the past, to lowland
used-migration
Bolivia-until environmental resources have recuperated.
Livestock and livelihoods
What is the future of pastoralism?
Livestock are just one part of altiplano livelihoods.
They provide meat, wool, and manure, a means to
obtain fruit, vegetables, and other goods by trading,
and a source of status. Livestock may have been a more
important element of livelihoods in the past, when trading links with lower-lying areas were stronger than today
and diets less diversified. Wool, dried meat, and
manure can be traded with valley communities that
have more arable land and fewer livestock. The diversification of highland household activities includes arable
farming that allows more self-sufficiency at the household level, and this may have decreased the overall
importance of livestock within livelihoods. Empirical
models tested in the Bolivian altiplano (Valdivia et al
Livestock contribute to the well-being of the human
populations of the high plateaus, but they are also one
of many factors contributing to environmental degradation in some places. The important conclusion that can
be drawn from our work in the Tarija altiplano is that in
most of the area, contemporary grazing does not affect
the quality of vegetation any more than it did during
the past 500 or even 1000 years. Seasonal movements
are important in spreading the grazing over a much
wider area than might be imagined from the distribution of livestock at any given moment.
Local changes are reported to have occurred, that
is the moving sand dunes near Copacabana and the
changed lake flora, but these may be the result of a
Mountain Research and Development
Vol 23
No 2
May 2003
Research
147
wide range of factors, of which locally intensive grazing is just one. Woody vegetation, particularly thola
(Baccharis incarum), varies in density, indicating that
people extract fuelwood from it. Degraded areas of
k'hanlli (T. cristatum) may likewise be the result of bad
soil quality, groundwater, and wind erosion as well as
grazing.
If people continue to have access to other grazing
areas at times of climate stress, the existing use of
resources appears sustainable as long as there are sufficient female labor resources available to care for sheep,
allowing males to migrate. Some people protect small
areas to be grazed by sheep at times of greatest need,
but others may calculate that the risk of lamb mortality
is balanced by not having to invest time in maintaining
walls. After severe drought, sheep numbers recover
more slowly than vegetation: this allows more rapid
environmental regeneration.
Whether pastoralism has a long-term future in the
livelihood strategies of households in the Tarija altiplano depends on whether it can offer an adequate
quality of life for its human population. An adequate
range of services, particularly schools, must be maintained, and there must be enough children to justify
multiclass schools that can offer a good quality of education. Schools, at present, are not experiencing a
FIGURE5
decrease in the number of children enrolling. The popular seasonal fairs make nonmonetary transactions easy
and allow a degree of regional self-sufficiency that
reduces cash needs.
The ability of household members to migrate is
related to the type of livestock and the gender composition of households. Whereas cattle require very little
labor (Brunschwig 1986), sheep and goats require constant attention because they are taken out to graze
every morning and brought back every evening. This
makes it easier for those (usually men) looking after
cattle than for those (usually women and children)
looking after sheep to migrate. Women in the Tarija
altiplano are much less likely to migrate seasonally than
men, and they look after the flocks in addition to carrying out the traditionally male tasks (such as collecting
thola for fuel). The importance of migration in livelihood strategies does not appear to be causing a reduction in the importance of livestock grazing in the Tarija
altiplano.
Although pastoralism is a crucial element in the
livelihood of altiplano people, like crop farming (Figure 5), it offers security rather than a satisfactory
income or a good quality of life. It is uncertain whether
livelihoods that combine pastoralism, some cultivation,
and seasonal migration will be able to meet the rising
Communitylivelihoodin Chorcoyadepends on seasonal migration,grazing,and cultivationwhere water is available. Pictured
here are oats and broad beans irrigated from a hillside spring. (Photo by David Preston)
David Preston, Jamie Fairbairn,Narel Paniagua, and Glenn Maas, with Martha Yevara and Stephan Beck
148
AUTHORS
David Preston and Jamie Fairbairn
School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
[email protected] (D.R) and [email protected] (J.F.)
Narel Paniagua, Martha Yevara, and Stephan Beck
Instituto de Ecologia, Universidad Mayor de San Andres, Casilla 20127, La
Paz, Bolivia.
[email protected]
Glenn Maas
Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Aberystwyth,
Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, UK.
REFERENCES
Adler PB, Morales JM. 1999. Influence of environmental factors and sheep
grazing on an Andean grassland. Journal of Range Management
52:471-481.
Archibold OW. 1995. Ecology of WorldVegetation. London: Chapman and Hall.
Beck S, Paniagua N, Yevara M, Liberman M. 2001. La vegetacion y uso de
la tierra del altiplano y de los valles en el oeste de Tarija, Bolivia. In: Beck
S, Paniagua N, Preston D, editors. Historia, Ambiente y Sociedad en Tarija,
Bolivia. La Paz, Bolivia: Instituto de Ecologia, pp 47-93.
Browman DL. 1987. Pastoralism in highland Peru and Bolivia. In: Browman
DL, editor. Arid Land Use Strategies and Risk Management in Highland Peru
and Bolivia. Boulder, CO: Westview, pp 121-151.
Brunschwig G. 1986. Sistemas de produccion de laderas de altura. Bulletin del Instituto de Estudios Andinos 15:27-52.
Coppus R. 2000. Indicators of Environmental Change Under Different Grazing Pressures in Southern Bolivian Ecosystems. Draft Technical Report,
INCO-DC[International Cooperation with Developing Countries, EU] Project.
Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam.
Denevan W, Treacy J, Sandor J. 1986. Physical geography of the Corporaque region. In: Denevan W, editor. The Cultural Ecology, Archaeology and
History of Terracing and Terrace Abandonment in the Colca Valley of Southern Peru. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, pp 47-59.
Devereux S. 1993. Goats before ploughs: Dilemmas of household
response sequencing during food shortages. Institute of Development Studies Bulletin 24(4):52-59.
Dlaz S, Acosta A, Cabido M. 1994. Community structure in montane grasslands of central Argentina in relation to land use. Journal of Vegetation Science 5(4):483-488.
Eash NS, Sandor JA. 1995. Soil chronosequence and geomorphology in a
semiarid valley in the Andes of southern Peru. Geoderma 65:59-79.
Fairbairn J. 1999. Estrategias de Sobrevivencia de Hogares en el Altiplano
Tarijenoy el Valle del Rio San Juan del Oro, Tarija.EU [European Union] Project Working Paper 99/01. Leeds, UK: School of Geography, University of
Leeds. Available at:
Accessed 18
www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/groups/andes/informes/house.htm.
Jul 2002.
Falrbairn J. 2000. Riesgos Ambientales en Tarija:Frecuencia y Reacciones.
EU [European Union] Project Working Paper 00/01. Leeds, UK: School of
Geography, University of Leeds. Available at:
Accessed
www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/groups/andes/informes/hazardspan.htm.
18 Jul 2002.
Liang YM, Hazlett S, Lauenroth WK. 1989. Biomass dynamics and water
use efficiencies of five plant communities in the shortgrass steppe.
Oecologia 80:148-153.
Maas GS, Macklin MG, Warburton J, Woodward JC, Meldrum E. 2001. A
300-year history of flooding in an Andean mountain river system: The Rio
Alizos, southern Bolivia. In: Maddy D, Macklin MG, Woodward JC, editors.
River Basin Systems: Archives of Environment Change. Lisse, Netherlands:
Balkema, pp 297-323.
Preston D. 1998. Post peasant capitalist graziers: The 21st century in
southern Bolivia. Mountain Research and Development 18:151-158.
Preston D. 2000. Pastoreo en el Altiplano Tarijeno 1906-1996. EU [European Union] Project Working Paper 00/02. Leeds, UK: School of Geography, University of Leeds. Available at:
Accessed 18 Jul
www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/andes/informes/pastab.htm.
2002.
Ruiz de los Rios P. 2000. Herramientas para mejorar la produccion y conservacidn de recursos ganaderos. Tarija, Bolivia: Informe Tecnico HEDECOM
[Herramientas desarrolladas en comunidades rurales para mayor producci6n y conservacion de recursos].
Sili6 Cervera F, Garcia Codron JC, Campo Moreno L, Sainz de la Masa S.
2001. Informacion espacial, nuevas tecnologias y medio ambiente: un SIG
para el estudio de la vegetacion en los Andes Bolivianos. In: Beck S, Paniagua N, Preston D, editors. Historia, Ambiente y Sociedad en Tarija,Bolivia.
La Paz, Bolivia: Instituto de Ecologia, pp 231-256.
Tapley TD Jr, Waylen PR. 1990. Spatial variability of annual precipitation
and ENSO events in western Peru. Hydrological Sciences 35:429-446.
Thompson LG, Mosley-Thompson E, Arnao BM. 1984. El Nino-Southern
Oscillation events recorded in the stratigraphy of the tropical Quelccaya ice
cap, Peru. Science 226:50-53.
Valdivia C, Dunn EG, Jette C. 1996. Diversification as a risk management
strategy in an Andean agropastoral community. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78:1329-1334.
Vuille M, Bradley RS. 2000. Temperature trends and their vertical structure
in the tropical Andes. Geophysical Research Letters 27:3885-3888.
Washington-Allen RA, Ramsey RD, Norton BE, West NE. 1998. Change
detection of the effect of severe drought on subsistence agropastoral communities in the Bolivian Altiplano. International Journal of Remote Sensing
19:1319-1333.
Wilson AD, MacLeod ND. 1991. Overgrazing: Present or absent? Journal of
Range Management 44:475-482.
Woodward J. 1994. Some soil characteristics of a subAndean agricultural
system: The Alizos Valley, Bolivia. EU [European Union] Project Working
Paper 94/02. Leeds, UK: School of Geography, University of Leeds.
Zhang W, Skarpe C. 1996. Small scale vegetation dynamics in the semiarid steppe in Inner Mongolia. Journal of Arid Environments 34:421-439.
Mountain Research and Development
Vol 23
No 2
May 2003